Thursday, September 30, 2010

Where did September go? I recall a plethora of chocolate crumbs, chocolate smears, and chocolate treats as the Garden opened Chocolate: Seed to Sweet, an exhibition celebrating this favorite indulgence. Here’s a photo journal highlighting some of the chocolaty September moments.

A Quick Lesson: Chocolate comes from the fruit of the cacao tree. This cacao tree is displayed in the Atlanta Botanical Garden Orangerie. Another is located in the Tropical Rotunda.

Flowers and pods grow directly off the trunk and limbs rather than the tips like many other fruits. Cacao (pronounced ca-COW) refers to the tree and the beans inside its seed pods; cocoa (pronounced KO-ko) refers to the two byproducts of the cocoa bean: cocoa butter and cocoa powder.

Karen Porteleo and Joshua John Russell of Highland Bakery wowed the crowd during a chocolate cake decorating demonstration.

This fabulous chocolate sculpture was created by Victor Dagatan from The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead. Chef James Satterwhite also participated in the opening weekend by creating chocolate butterflies, flowers, and cacao pods.

The Atlanta Cupcake Factory joined the Garden for the first Chocolate Sunday. Jamie Fahey provided home baking tips, demonstrated how to decorate giant chocolate cupcake cakes, and provided cakes and frosting for all to decorate and consume. There wasn't a clean face in the Outdoor Kitchen!

Atlanta Botanical Garden

Edible Garden

Showcasing the farm-to-table concept of cultivating and consuming fresh, local and sustainably-grown food, the Edible Garden project not only returns the 1-acre asphalt parking lot to green space but also demonstrates that fruits and vegetables make beautiful landscape plants.
The garden includes an Outdoor Kitchen where Atlanta's top chefs will present cooking demonstrations using garden ingredients. On weekends, the Garden Chef demonstrates seasonal recipes using ingredients harvested straight from the Edible Garden. And, as for those leftovers go, any food not used in educational programs will be donated to local charities.